Interactive map: case studies of nature degradation and its economic impacts

Nature degradation presents significant economic and financial risks worldwide. By investigating recurring patterns and transmission channels from historical nature loss events, we can gain valuable insights to inform the development of proactive strategies to address these multifaceted challenges.

In January 2025 we published a discussion paper, ‘Exploring the interactions of nature loss drivers, vulnerabilities and economic impacts’,  which involved studying 14 case studies of nature degradation across different regions and time periods. The interactive world map below presents these case studies. 

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The map is designed to complement and extend the discussion paper, which proposes a framework to understand the transmission of nature degradation to the economy and provides policy recommendations. Each case study illustrates how drivers of nature degradation – from invasive species to overexploitation, pollution land and sea use change, and climate change – interact with local vulnerabilities to create diverse economic consequences. These are the main drivers of biodiversity loss listed by the Intergovernmental Panel Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in 2019.

This map was created by Krisha Chandnani, Laudine Goumet and Elena Almeida based on research undertaken by Elena Almeida, Chiara Colesanti Senni and Jelica Rastoka. The shapefile used for the map has a scale of 1:50,000,000 and is sourced from the Natural Earth Data, an open-source database developed by volunteers and maintained with the support of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS).

Share your examples

We welcome contributions to this growing body of evidence and encourage you to get in touch with additional documented examples of nature degradation and its economic impacts. You can share your details here.